Tuesday, June 27, 2006

A mixed bag

Some good news and bad news regarding the proposed amendment to ban the "desecration" of US flags.

The good news: The bill fell four votes short of the 67 needed for it to pass the Senate--after already passing in the House by a count of 286 to 130--and be sent to the states for ratification.

The bad news: We have 349 Congress-people who don't have the foggiest clue about what the concept of free speech really means.

2 comments:

Catherine said...

Dave - seriously - expound for us on what you think of of the flag burning question.

Dave Carlson said...

Well, I know that I've never burned a flag--American or otherwise--and I've never had an urge to do so, but if an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning flag burning was passed, I would consider it my patriotic duty to start burning flags.

I heard a news blurb in which Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist stated that we need to ban flag burning because the flag is a "monument" that thousands of Americans have died preserving. I think that's the one of the most illogical, ill-reasoned, moronically meaningless statements I've ever heard. If the flag is a monument, what is it a monument to? I would say that it's a monument to freedom? Our freedom is what so many soldiers have died to preserve and freedom is exactly what Frist and others like him want to take away.